Feeding device



Aug. 8, 1933. T. G. McGIRR 1,921,764

FEEDING DEVICE Filed May 24, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Aug. 8, 1933 Q umTEosTATEs- A 24,192s; Serial No. 280,158 w sfcl'a ms. (c1. S -2 15) 7 My invention relates to automatic'feeding device, having particular reference to the feeding of solders containing a plurality of pieces of steel,

'such as are used for safety razor'blades, or'for splitting silk orother fabrics, also'for tools havdetachable blades.

The object of my invention is to provide an automatic means for feeding holders contain inga plurality of blanks from which safety razor blades or other straight edged tools are made i through'machines necessary to transform the blanks, thusly held, into finished sharpened.

tools; To this end the device is provided'with an incline chute down which the holders graviway of the feeding device, and also, with the selector which 'reciprocates "back and forth in the direction of the length of the holder. The, selector the rearend of the lowermost holder, moves it forward until it is gripped by a 7 pair of feed rolls located on opposite sides of the guideway. These rolls take the holder from the selector and movesit forward until it'is engaged by a second set of feed rolls, which like the first, are located upon, opposite sides of said guideway,

to be fed. The functionof' the first set of feed rolls is not alone to strip the holder from the t 3.5 exist between it and the preceding holders, be-

a cause the feeding device is essentially a pushing feed, causing each successive holder to abut against the'preceding one, thus forming'a continuous'feed through the device to the machine.

It will be noted that the first set of rolls'being frictionally rotated, are 'freeto slip when the holder being fed has caught up with the preceding one. The'secondset of rolls are practically positivelydrivenand it is these rollsthat determine the speed at whichthe holders are'moved forward through the respective machine or: machines, as the case may be. i

. Another object ofkmy inventiOmresidesinthe simple yet'efficient feeding device for this 'pur- 5 chine up toproper efficiency and thirdly, having v particular machine or machine's.

The feeding device is adapted to operate upon 'speciallyfdesigned hold-' tate sidewise, until their movement is arrested, in which position they are in linewith the guidebut the latter pair are located nearer themachine tional .vie'wntaken on line 4-4bf Fig .,1; Fig.5

is a'sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Fig. '1, selector, but to closeup any space that might "tohe applied to given character are x v strapped, either by separate machines, or while' I The holders'as they pose; first, of holding a plurality of blanks in in. selecting device capableoftaking aplurality of such holders one after the other, andintroducing them SllCCBSSiVelyItQ the rolls of the'feeding device to advance them from said device. to the (Taking f into consideration the'necessity of having a stream of f r blade-laden holders constantly in reserve softhat "the device mayfeed a continuous unbroken line holders throughthe desired achi .A further object oft'he invention is the provision of means'fo'r selecting a'h'older from the stack,

pass the same to a pair of constantly revolving feed i rollers which relieves the selector of the same, and then passes the holder'between' a second set of constantly revolving feed rollers. jfIEach holderfv as it is carried forward causes ,each preceding one an to advance, forming an unbroken line as the hold- Jets and their contents are introduced to the I'e-, spective machine or machines that complete the sharpening of the ,steelpieces; Further objects and, advantages of my invention more or less broader than those hereinbeforeistated will be I partly obvious and in part'specially pointed out. My invention, as t present preferred, willibe' more fully understood by rfeference'to the draw.-

ingsj which illustrate merely an example of means for putting my invention into practice, and where Fig. 1 .is a top plan View of my feeding-device; Fig. 2' is a sectional iew taken on line '2-'2 of Fig, ,1; Fig. 3 is another sectional 'view taken on lined- 3 of Fig. 1;Fig; 4 is still another secand Fig.. dis a detail perspective of the holder showing the same as itpasses through the feed-75,9

ing device to the machine, showing the guides in dotted lines,and1Fig. Tillustrates'a'modifica tion of feed shown in Fig. 11' i f It will bev understood that my improvement'is a machine wherein blades of 9.31 95 to be sharpened, honed'or;

going through a machine. are discharged from the feeding device each contact with the preceding one asthey machine, and they retain thatpushinglfeedfone against the other till they emerge at the" discharge endof the machine, each blank in itsjrespec'tive holder having undergonethedesired operation. V

The machine itself into which the steel blanks 10 5 are fed, forms no part of this application, therefore only the feeding device parse is-shown. My

holder for retaining steel blanks is shown here with, but forms aseparate application serially numbered 280,157; filed May 24,1928. Soa-m'uch 110 of the holder only isshown as to give a general idea of its construction and arrangement, where-,

in the holder 80 has one jaw stationary with the body portion, while the jaw 79 is hinged to the body of the holder and is provided with a lock consisting'of a pin engaging a spring 82 which holds the two members in clamped position. The edges of the pieces of steel extend beyond the top 1 edge 78 of the holder. As the construction of the holders forms no part of this application only that portion is shown for a proper understanding of the same in connection with the device that has been designed to operate upon such holders and pass the same through the various machines to accomplish the objects for which they were designed, suffice to say that when the pieces of steel are inserted in the holder and the movable jaw closed upon'them, they cannot possibly move therein while the holder is passing 'under the various means for giving the pieces a keen edge,

after which they are discharged as a finished I product ready to be finally inspected before being packaged for the trade.

My invention briefly described, comprises as above noted a feeding device for holders, each adapted tohold in locked position a plurality of blank steel blades, then feeding such holders to an incline'chute where they will feed sidewise by gravity or otherwise one after another to a selector for passage thru the machine, it matters not, be it sharpening, honing or stropping.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the platform or table 10 has suitable rectangular inclined arms 11 and 12, forming a skeleton chute, the latter extending transverse of the feed. The arms being so positioned as to feed the lowermost holder in the path of travel of selecting finger 13. A

modification of this selecting means is shown in Fig. 7 wherein is provided an endless chaind85 which operates over suitable wheels 83% 84, the chain has. suitably spaced thereon selecting fingers 13 which protrude through the slot in the :table 10'and causes the lowermost holder to be advanced from the stack. The means by which the reciprocating finger is operated will be fully described further on in this description.

. As it is presupposed to do the work in quanis secured to shaft 15, which 'is also provided with a worm 16 which is in contact with, and drives a gear 17 mounted to turn on a vertical shaft 18. To the upper end of this shaft is secured a gear 19 which meshes'with a like gear 20 on a, stud'shaft 21.

the level ,of' the travel'of the holders as they These gears are located below pass through the device.

As the holders are fed down the chute theycome into contact with the slot 22, in which the finger 13 operates, the holder is passed for- Ward between two sets'of feed rolls 23, 24,25 and 26,carried on stud shafts 2'7 and 28, the rolls 24 and26 are secured in proper position with respect to the guideway 29, by means of a set screw 30, with a suitable lock nut 31 and 32, for keeping the roll in proper stationary relation to the holder as it passes. The rolls 23 and 25 are mounted in pivoted flexible housings holder as it engages said rollers;

33 and 34, and each have springs 35 and 36,

suitably mounted to produce tension through the adjusting screws 37 and 38; the latter is provided with suitable lock nut 39 and 40 whereby to give the proper tension to the roller as the holder passes between the same. By having one flexible housing as described, the rolls are capable not only of adjusting itself to the holders,

butthe holders attain the'peripherial speed of the rolls. I

The shafts 2'7 and 28, each are provided with small gears 41 and 42, which mesh respectively with the main feed gears 19 and 26, while at the same time said rolls 23 and 24, are each provided with friction disks 43 and 44, which are applied above the rollers, and held in proper frictional contacttherewith by suitable lock nuts 45 and 46. The pivoted housings 33 and 34, may

he provided each with a limit stop 47 onthe housing, and may abut against a like stop 48. on

As above noted, any a the adjusting screw. 37. v desired tension may be applied to the pivoted housings by means of their adjusting means,'the

pivoted housings 33 34' carrying the feed roll-- ers 2l 26, by means of the adjusting screws 30 hold the rollers in proper feeding contact with the holders 80 as they pass between them. While the'feed rollers 23+25mounted in pivotedhousings33-.34 by reason of their yielding means 35-36 arepermitted to spread justthe necessary distance to permit the proper feeding of the It may" be noted that the set of rolls 23 and .24, which are provided with friction washers, travel faster thanthe rolls 25 and 26 which are not so provided. .Thepurpose of this is to enable these auxiliary feed rolls to have the holders catch up'onewith the other so the feed through the machinethey are about to enter may be entirely uniform and continuous. Thefeed ro1ler's'25 and 26 being positively driven by means of large gears 49 and 50, each meshing respectfully with gears 19 and 26, which when the holder is'engaged by said rolls, the said holder is positively gripped be--- tween them and thereby advances the same with proper speed to'the machine.

Referring .now to Fig. 3 wherein shaft 18 is seen properly/housed in bearings 51 and 52 at its upper and lower ends. Suitably secured to.

the shaft 18 is a disk 53,'having a friction face, and operates againsta like disk 5&1, carried by the gear 55. The downwardly extending hub of the said gear maybe provided with one member of a clutch 56, while immediately below the same is a hand wheel 57,,the hub 58 form-'- ing the'second member of the clutch. While ,below the hand wheel 57 on its lower side, is

provided with a friction washer 59, the same being held in proper arrangementby a suitable hand adjusting, nut 60. The friction arrangement at the lower endof the shaft l8, is for the purpose of disengaging the feed member, should one of the. holders get caught in the device,

'This arrangement permits the selecting finger 13 to be'moved back and forth without disturbing the rest of the mechanism. I

From the above it will be seen that the power is transferred from the driving pulley 14 to the power-distributing shaft 18, thence by reason of the gear drive of: the respective rolls with the main power drive,'will cause the holders to be fed one by one between the rolls in rapid succession, as above noted, each abutting the other and pushing it out of the feeding-device v 1,921,754 into the machine The feeding means above referred-t6 will now be described. a

Adjacent the gear 55 ismounted another gear 61,'the l'atter having a stud shaft secured, to the '"lower part of the bracket. The gear 61 carries 1 Ta crank arm 62 to which is secured a link 63. Under the table top '10 is a chamber 64 into which extends a shaft 65, the latter carrieson its lower end an arm: 66, which connects with the link,

63, and causes motion to be imparted'to the said shaft. To the upper end of'said shaft 65, and in the chamber 64; ana-rm fi'lhaving av v see (see Figs. 3, 4, and 6), with suitable toes '76 and 77, to engage shoulders on the holder, and hold the same securely in an upright'position while passing through the feeding device. The holder when it is selected from the. others in thechute, is conveyed along the continuous way from said chute to the guide 29, the latter being provided with suitable openings at proper places for the engaging faces of the feed rolls 23, 24, and 26 to make contact with the holder {and assist its passage to the machine.

The operation of my automatic feeding device only illustrative andthat the invention may be I resides in having an inclined chute that is adapted to receive and hold a plurality of holders that were previously filled with pieces of steel that are to be sharpened. Each holder rests on the inclined arms 11-12, which in cross section are angular, holding and guiding the holders'to a position where they are engaged by the selector finger 13 and discharged in the direction of their length. As shown herein a reciprocating member engages the lower holder and moves the same forward until it is gripped by the first set of feed rollers 2324. These rollers revolve at a faster speed than the selector finger 13 reciprocates, thus the rollers receive the holder 80 and pass it along into the guideway 29, where it'is again gripped by a second set of feed rollers '25.-26. The feeding rollers 2324 are only frictionally secured to their shafts (see Fig. 4) the nuts -46 securingthe proper friction for the rollers. The rollers 23-24"are driven from gears 19-20,

which are "directly" driven from themain power shaft 15. The rollers 2526 are driven by gears IS- on each side of the guideway 29, while each gear also meshes with the gears 19-20.

The shaft 18 which meshes with suitable geara ing to the shaft 15, drives the various rollers at the desired speed, the shaft 15 being the power shaft distributes the power through the work 16, where it revolves the various rollers and the reciprocating selector in proper relation to each other to accomplish the desired result. A hand wheel 57 with its clutch and cooperating friction disks adapt the same to be manually adjusted or stopped if desired. Ashas been noted, the feed rollers 24-26, are rigidly held on their shafts in proper feeding contact with the movable holder as it passes along, while the other feed rollers 23-25 are yieldingly' held in contact with the holders 80. The gear on the shaft 18 drives a I like gear 61 that causes the arm 63 to reciprocate -the guidewa'y'29; -Thusit will b'e seenthat'when length through the guideway 29. It is to *be "understood th'atthe feed of the' rollers 2526', is essentially-a 'push feed, 'and it is this feeding move forward as an unbroken line through the To the center of this casting is an upright post 91' that supports the guideway 29. Below the castent statutes I have, herein described and shown thereby causing a'reciprocating movement to be" transmitted to theblock (SQ-carrying the selector finger 13, andjat the same time imparts to the shaft 18'alinuch reducedspeed.

Immediately above the reciprocating block 69 z: in the table 10 to which the selec'tor finger 13 is "secured andrec'iprocates in slot 86, is secured av stop'bar 8-7-which the holders as they-descend to be engaged by the selector are aligned with rotation is imparted to the shaft 18,,then'to the gears, these in turn cause the feed rollersto rotate and pass' the holders in a directiono'f their action that causes' each holder to'con'tact with the one immediately preceding itfand causes'it and those immediately forward of the sameto machine. 1 I The main supporting. casting 88 carries all, the coacting parts, and is provided with a' depending leg 89 by which it may be attached to machine.

'ing 88 is secured'a housing90 that supports the main drive shaft, and the distributing driving means. r

'In accordance with the provisions of the patthe principal form of my invention which I now I consider, after experimenting with the same,as representing. the best embodiment thereof, but If desire to have it understoodthat the device is carried out in other ways'than that shown and. described, but'all of which are intendedto come within the scope of the claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: F g y 1. In a holder feeding device of the character described, the combination with inclined arms upon and down which the holders pass, a guide 120 for receiving each holder in turn from the arms to longitudinally alignthe same withthe machine, a plurality of sets of rollers, arranged in' series, friction means for driving the'first set, a

member adapted to select the lower holder and I pass it to thefirst set of frictionally driven feed 7 rolls, a second set of feed rolls, means for positively driving the second set so that theholders will Y abut each other as theyrpass to the machine, and

a guide for the holders interposed between the 0 rolls. 1

. 2. In an automatic holder feeding device of the s character described, the combination of an inclined skeleton, chute down which the holders are fed, an alignment device including a channel 5 V acter described in combination, a power shaft, a

driven shaft at right angles thereto having a gear thereon, a supplemental shaft having a gear meshing with the first mentioned gear, one set of frictionally driven rolls pivotally mounted and adapted to mesh with each of said gears, one'of is i said rolls being spring pressed, a guide for the gaging said holder, a plurality of feed wheels,

certain of which are frictionally driven and grip said holder from the selectingmeans, and others of which are positively driven and engage the holder and move the same in feeding direction,

the rate of rotation of said first-mentioned wheels being greater than that of said secondmentioned wheels whereby a plurality of blades may be uniformly and continuously presented to finishing mechanism or the like.

5. In a device of. the character described for feeding blade holders in an upright position, the

combination of a reciprocating selecting means for advancing one holder after the other, of

frictionally driven rolls for strip ping'e'ach holder in turn from the selecting means, other posi-- tively driven rolls for receiving and discharging said holders in end to end relationship in end contact with the next adjacentholder as it is discharged from the feeding device, and a guide 1 for the holders for retainin gth'em in a predetermined path of movement, whereby the holders and blades are uniformly and consecutively fed in unbroken line to an abrading or like machine.

THEODORE G. MCGIRR. 

